Organizer Q&A

Catching up with Caio Taborda of Xama Festival, Brazil

Oct 6, 2021

4 min read

Welcome to Festival Insider's Organizer Q&A series. Here, we have intimate conversations with some of the festival market's most exciting and influential innovators.

Xama, a festival set on an idyllic beach in Brazil - quite literally paradise. Organized by SĂŁo Paulo promoters, Gop Tun, and held around New Years Eve, we had the pleasure of catching up with Caio T to hear more about this unicorn of a festival...

What is your name and what is the name of your festival?

Hello, my name is Caio Taborda. I'm part of the Gop Tun crew and glad to be here to present to you guys a bit more about the festival which I organize, which is Xama.

XAMA FestivalXAMA Festival

When did the festival start and what inspired it?

Xama is a New Year's Eve festival that started three years ago to celebrate the Brazilians electronic independent music scene that has been around and also globally known for a few years.

XAMA Festival DJXAMA Festival DJ

When and where does it happen?

Basically, the festival happens in a beach club called Tikal. Tikal is a famous spot in the region that has been doing events for the past 10 years.

The venue is located in front of the beach Algodões. It faces the sea and has like an amazing lake in the back. As the place has a small cliff, you can see the sea in front of you while dancing in the grass looking to the stars, so it's a pretty magical place. The whole festival happens there - it is basically a piece of land and we use different scenarios of the place to do different events.

So we do censored radio shows in the lake, free beach parties close to the cliff, and also bigger rave parties as the New Year's Eve in another part of the venue. So the venue definitely has a great impact on the concept and the look and feel of the festival.

We also do boat parties. Normally, these party's final destination has a nice spot in the peninsula. So it's a small island, dive spots or even waterfalls. So not only the venue is special, but the place itself PenĂ­nsula De MaraĂş is a pretty special place. It's surrounded with beautiful islands, beautiful beaches, nice restaurants - it's definitely a really cool destination.

What kind of musical artists play at your festival?

Xama does only local artists from scenes around Brazil, we focus mainly on electronic music. So during the nine, our nine days progress, we have DJs and also a few live shows happening.

XAMA Festival CrowdXAMA Festival Crowd

Who is the target audience for your festival?

I think our audience are mainly people that somehow mix part and follow the scenes around the country. So we attract people from all around Brazil and also foreigners come to the festival I think maybe 90 to 95% of our crowd comes from Brazil.

What is unique about your festival? What sets it apart?

I think in the past two years, we made some unique and special achievements, first because Xama is one of the only festivals in the country focusing on music that has only locals playing during New Year's Eve, which is a very special occasion, a very special date for us Brazilians.

So it's really nice to put all the artists and punters together in the middle of paradise for nine days. As you have like a bunch of talented and like-minded people, knowing each other we see how this has brought the scene together and also made the special relations happening during these special days we spend at the end of the year.

XAMA Festival Beach StageXAMA Festival Beach Stage

What are some of the challenges you've faced in organizing your festival?

As a festival in a really remote place, we faced many challenges during the first two years. First of all, we know that we are close to a local community which we really want to support and to help. So we have some, Xama has this social impact in the region. It goes from like telling the kids how to preserve the local nature to help in some moments that the peninsula needed us as, for example, when we have the oil episode that happened here in Brazil and Algodões was also affected.

I think in the first year of the festival, we also faced a big challenge. We did this party on the top of a hill that was just approachable through tractors, so we brought like 1000 people to this place. In the end, it ended up good, but it was definitely a big challenge.

Of course, another huge challenge for us is the pandemic, Xama didn't happen this year.

We needed to cancel the festival and we know the impact of tourism that the festival has on the region. So we also had this donation campaign in order to raise donations for the locals that don't have the tourism happening there anymore.

XAMA Festival DJ BoothXAMA Festival DJ Booth

Anything else you want to tell us about?

We know that we still have a long way ahead regarding the pandemic here in Brazil, but we are confident that we'll be able to make Xama 2022 at the end of this year, so I hope everyone is doing fine. Thanks, Festival Insider for the invitation and take care.

More fromOrganizer Q&A

Explore series
Imagine Music FestivalImagine Music Festival

Organizer Q&A

The Creative Partnership of Imagine Music Festival Founders Glenn & Maddy Goodhand

6 min read

Papaya Club @ Sonus FestivalPapaya Club @ Sonus Festival

Organizer Q&A

Robin Ebinger of Sonus and Time Warp on What it Takes to Last in the Festival Industry

8 min read

Elements 2021Elements 2021

Organizer Q&A

Founders Say Elements Music & Arts Festival 2022 is the Pinnacle of a Decade Long Journey

6 min read

Bernd Breiter PressBernd Breiter Press

Organizer Q&A

An In-Depth Chat with Bernd Breiter of Big City Beats WORLD CLUB DOME

11 min read

Slam (Riverside Festival)Slam (Riverside Festival)

Organizer Q&A

Getting the lowdown on Riverside Festival with Stuart McMillan

4 min read

John Minty - Splore FestivalJohn Minty - Splore Festival

Organizer Q&A

A Rundown on Splore Music & Arts Festival with John Minty

3 min read

Theodora Karakassi Press ShotTheodora Karakassi Press Shot

Organizer Q&A

We sat down with Theodora Karakassi of Plisskën Festival

6 min read

Albert SalinasAlbert Salinas

Organizer Q&A

Catching up with Albert Salinas of Lapsus Festival

5 min read

Evan Bailey - Ubbi Dubbi Press PictureEvan Bailey - Ubbi Dubbi Press Picture

Organizer Q&A

A Chat with Evan Bailey of Ubbi Dubbi Festival

10 min read

Nicolas CournoyerNicolas Cournoyer

Organizer Q&A

Catching up with Nicolas Cournoyer of Piknic Électronik

10 min read

Tommy Verdun (FuturFestival)Tommy Verdun (FuturFestival)

Organizer Q&A

A Chat With Tommy Verdun From FuturFestival

5 min read

Robin BrĂĽhlmann (Street Parade)Robin BrĂĽhlmann (Street Parade)

Organizer Q&A

Robin BrĂĽhlmann (Street Parade, Zurich)

3 min read

Florian Bourdot (Bordeaux Open Air)Florian Bourdot (Bordeaux Open Air)

Organizer Q&A

Florian Bourdot (Bordeaux Open Air)

7 min read

Nick Castleman (Labyrinth)Nick Castleman (Labyrinth)

Organizer Q&A

Nick Castleman (Labyrinth Open Air)

15 min read

Tamara Przystasz (Fest Festival)Tamara Przystasz (Fest Festival)

Organizer Q&A

Tamara Przystasz (Fest Festival)

7 min read

Rob Da BankRob Da Bank

Organizer Q&A

Rob Da Bank (Camp Bestival)

6 min read

Anastasios DiolatzisAnastasios Diolatzis

Organizer Q&A

Anastasios Diolatzis (reworks)

6 min read

Katrin & Jon Olaffson (Secret Solstice) Press ShotKatrin & Jon Olaffson (Secret Solstice) Press Shot

Organizer Q&A

KatrĂ­n Ă“lafsson and JĂłn Bjarni Steinsson (Secret Solstice Festival)

6 min read

Freddie McGreggor (One Out)Freddie McGreggor (One Out)

Organizer Q&A

Freddie McGreggor (One Out Festival)

3 min read

Lachie Gordon of Noisily FestivalLachie Gordon of Noisily Festival

Organizer Q&A

Lachie Gordon (Noisily Festival)

3 min read

Junction2Junction2

Organizer Q&A

Feeling So Real – How Junction2 Organizers Create Community In The Digital Space

11 min read

Gustavo PereiraGustavo Pereira

Organizer Q&A

Gustavo Pereira (Neopop Festival)

11 min read

Julian Prince of SXM FestivalJulian Prince of SXM Festival

Organizer Q&A

Julian Prince (SXM Festival)

5 min read

Timothy Monkiewicz (Elements Music & Art Festival)Timothy Monkiewicz (Elements Music & Art Festival)

Organizer Q&A

Timothy Monkiewicz (Elements Music & Art Festival)

7 min read